Ditching and earth-distributing mechanism.



J. w. SYKES. DITCHI G AND EARTH DISTRIBUTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAB. 2, 1908.

Patented Nov. 23. 1909.

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J. W. SYKES. DITGHING AND EARTH DISTRIBUTING MECHANISM.

\ APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2, 1908.

Patented Nov. 23. 1909.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 2, 1908. Serial No. 418,791.

roan whom it may concern:

Be it known that LJOHN W. SYxn s, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, inthe county 'of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Ditching and Earth-Distributing Mechanism, of which the following is a specification. I

lviy invention relates particularly to machines for cutting channels or ditches and. distributing the spoils over the land, whereby the formation-bfspoils-banks adjacent to the ditches is obviated.

My primary object isto provide thoroughly practicable means for distributing over land the spoils taken from ditches during the formation thereof, therebyyndering all of the land till'able and facilitating the passage'to the drainage ditches of any- Water which may fall upon the land.

It may be'stated herethat my improved mechanism is particularly adapted for. use in regions where a great deal of low marshy land abounds; and, commonly, such districts are subject. to very heavy rain falls, thereby rendering it exceedingly important that provision be made for enabling the surface wa-. ter to pass quickly into the drainage ditches. Sofar as I am aware, no provision has heretofore been made, in connection with a traction-ditching machine, for the distribution of the spoils over the land, thereby obviating the formation of spoils-banks adjacent the drainage'ditches; and, it is to be borne in mind, that once the spoils-banks are formed in the regions for which my apparatus is particularly adapted, it is an exceedingly laborious and expensive operation to distribute the spoils over the land, as, for instance, by the use of scrapers.

In locations where the land is quite swampy or marshy, it isdesirable to locate small drainage channels in substantial parallel relation, at distances apart varying from 7 5 to 200 feet. It will readily be understood, therefore, that a very great waste of ground results from the formatlon of spoilsbanks adjacent to theditches, and a -still greater objection arises from the fact that the ditches, in such case, do not effectually perform their function. Ordinarily, moreover, each ditch is intended to drain the land on both sides of it for one-half the distance between ditches; so that where the ing the spoils; Fig. 4.,ap1a1i channels and distribute the spoils at mod to reclaim large areas of marshy" land which of drainage means.

embodiment in in wlnch Figure 1 represents a sid e1'v fiem1 fiew of ditch cutting and hearth 7 d1str1but1ng mechanlsm constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2, a sectionaljview taken as indicated at line'2 ofF-i'g 1 and showing the mechanism for distributing'the spoils;

Fig. 3, a broken sectional yiew illustrating spoils-bank is formed, the resultobtainedis in reality little better than provision for) drainage of one-half theland. fjMyinven tion obviates the difficultiesjsuggestedfand' renders it perfectly feasible to ciitdrainage" erateexpense, thereby rendering it possible a modified form of mechanisnrfoi "distribilfi mechanism shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 5,"a' brolien plan'view showing details joffthe gearing employed in the construction shown n 'Figp 1; Fig. 6, a view illustrating the. relation of the drainage channels,]and illustrating'my mechanismin the cou'rseof forming the channels; Fig. 7, a brokjenijsectionalyi ew of the earth, showing the manner in "which the n in spoils-banks are located, according togold methods; and Flg. 8, as1m1 lar sect1on, .1llus-' trating the manner in whichithespoilsare distributed in the use tmy iniproved 'mech anisnr;

In the construction sliown'in' Fig I, and 5, A represents the main;fram .0 .a traction ditching-macliine t t on mechanism of well-knoivn c'on ruct tlcularly adapted for jtra such machines, further than may be necessary for understanding my invention.

In the machine illustrated, the traction mechanism A includes traveling aprons,

such, for instance, as are shown in patent to Hill, No. 866,647, granted September 24, 1907. U on the main frame is mounted "a motor' a aving a shaft a (Figs. 1 and 5). The shaft a is equipped with a shiftable pinion a splined on the shaft andcapable of being shifted by means of a lever (i The pinion a may be thrown into mesh with 'a gear (1* on a shaft a. The shaft 64 is connected, by means of sprocket-wheels and a sprocket-chain a, with a shaft The shaft a is further equ pped with a shiftable clutch-member a splined on the shaft and adapted to be moved by means of a lever a. The clutclra may be shifted to throw into operation a sprocket-wheel a journaled on theshaft d Asprocket-chain a connects the sprocket-wheel a with a sprocket-wheel a" secured to a shaft a. The shaft (1 is further equipped w th a sprocket-wheel a which is connected by a sp'rocket chain a with a wheel a forming a part of the traction mechanism A. It'will be understood that similar provision is made at the otherside of the machine (not shown) for operat- 0 ing the endless apron thereat,

The wheel B is equipped with cutting and elevating blades, or buckets, Z), which operate to cut the channel and dump the dirt upon a conveyer b which serves to deliver the dirt laterally at one side of the 'wheel, in a well-understood manner. The spoils-distributing mechanism C comprises a trough, or spout, 0, supported on a pivot 0 and having at its base a hopper 0 into 40 which the spoils are delivered from the con veyer 6 a cable 03 attached to the spout c and passing about a pulley c, said cable serving as a means for oscillating the chute or spout c in the operation of the machine;'

a wheel a connected by a sprocket-chain c with the shaft aand equipped with a crank '0 with which the cable 0 is connected; :1

pump 0 operated by a sprocket-chain, or

belt, 0? connected with the shaft a a suction-hose 0 connected" with the pump and supported in position to enable its free end to depend into the ditch cut by the wheel B; and a pressure-hose 0 connectedwith thepump and equipped with anozzle 0" which extends through the base-portion of the spout c in alinement with the axis of the spout, as, shown in Fig. 2.

. The earth-cutting and elevating wheel B is actuated through the medium of a shaft d which is connected by a sprocket-chain d with the shaft a. The manner of operating the-cutter-wheel is well understood in the art.

ing-machine like the one illustrated, prozle e and spout c.

'ldir ec-tion of rotation of the wheel.

In the usual operation of a traction ditch-- .tion to the rotary member f, thereby provision is made for the continuous forward travel of the machine, the cutter-wheel operating continuously, during the forward movement of the machine, to cut the channel and elevate the'earth. In some cases. in operation is such that the cutter-wheel is lowered to cut a channel, it isthen elevated, the machine then moved forward ajdistance equal to approximately one-half the di-' ameter of the cutter-wheel, and the cutterwheel then fed downwardly, so that the machine progresses by a step by step movement.

However, my inventionis applicable to any traction ditching-machine where it is desirable to distribute the spoils over the land so during the process of forming the ditch.

It will now be understood that the crankwheel 0 imparts a continuous up and down oscillation to the spout a, while the pump 05 operates continuously to draw Jvater from the ditch in the rear of the machine and force the water thus drawn through the noz- The soil delivered by the conveyerb is dropped into the base-pen tion of the spout 0 directly in front of the '90 nozzle 0, and is projected at high velocity from the spout c. It will be understood, therefore, that inasmuch as the spout 0 oscillates up and down the material will be distributed over the land with-more or less uniformity, covering a considerable area of the land at some little distance from the drainage ditch. Where a powerful enough pump is employed and the drainage chan-' nels are not too widely separated, the dirt 10 may be deposited over substantially the full area between ditches. In this connection, it

is to be borne in mind that, owing to the texture and composition of the earth commonly encountered in low land districts and 1 owing to the large volume of water which would ordinarily be employed in the distributing operation, the earth being distributed will be largely disintegrated and held in suspension in the water and will flow over the surface ofthe land, even after the material issuing from the spoutchas encountered theearth. v

In the modification illustrated in Figs; 3 and 45,1 employ a' rotary soil-scattering -member 7' which is located beneath the outer end of the conveyer b and receives the material therefrom. The memberf is rotated at high-speed, through the medium of any suitable means, and operates to scatter the spoils over the surfaceof the land. In the modification illustrated, the member f is equipped with rows f. of paddles, or blades, which incline in a direction reverse to the Th paddles, or blades, of the successive rows ;.are staggered with relation to each other,

as illustrated in Fig. 4. Provision is made for imparting a varyingwelocity of rota- Us a viding for variation in the force with which the material is. hurled from the wheel, so

that the .material will be distributed over a large area. Any suitable means forimparting variable speed may be employed. I have shown the shaft f of the rotary member equipped with a cone-pulley 7' which is connected by a belt f with a cone-pulley f? operated by a chain, or belt, f". A beltshifter f is connected with the belt, and it will be obvious that the speed of rotation of the member f may be varied by shifting the belt f upon the cone-pulleys mentioned.

In Fig. 6,1v have shown a number of parallel drainage ditches g which communicate with a larger ditch g I In Fig. 8, I have illustrated, by cross-section, the manner in which the spoils are distributed to form a layer In this connection, it may be stated that a double ad: vantage is derived from this distribution, of the spoils over the surface of the land, since a firmer soil results from the scattering-of the clay sub-soil taken from the ditches over the'surface of the land which is largely composed of decayed vegetable matter. Moreover, the sub-soils thus deposited over the surface of the land furnishes those elements necessary for agricultural purposes in which the surface soils of marshy land are deficient. i

In the section shown in Fig. 7, the spoils from the ditches-g are illustrated as deposited in spoils-banks according to the old methods. I t' will at once be evident that not only is there great economic waste in the use of the old method, owing to the fact that a large proportion of the land is left untillable, but that, moreover, imperfect drainage results.

My improved apparatus renders it perfectly feasible to distribute the spoils derived from drainage ditches ovbr the land adjacent to the ditches in such nianner as to render the land tillable throughout its whole area, and this result may be attained atvery little additional expense over that involved in making ditches with the apparatus now in common use. It is obvious that the land is thus very greatly enhanced in value, andthe importance of my invention will be readily appreciated by those who have had experience in thereclaiming of the low lands of. our country.

It is to be understood that I have merely illustrated the preferred forms of my invention, and I havev described the same in detail for clearness of understanding only. Pence. no undue limitation is to be understood from the description given.

\Yhat- I regard as new. and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a ditching-machine. the combination with traveling 'chanuel cutting and earthelevating mechanism, of spoils distributing a distance above the ground, of scatteringmechanism carried therewith operative to receive the spoils from said first-named mechanism and spread the same over the land.

3. In a ditching-machine, the combination with traction mechanism, of channel-cutting and earth-elevating mechanism mounted to be carried thereby, and spoils distributing mechanism having means operative tp vary automatically the distance of the deposition of the material from the channel, whereby the spoils will be spread over the land, for the purpose set forth.

4. In mechanism of the character set forth, the combination with means for cutting a channelin the earth and elevating the material, of hydraulic mechanism operative to distribute the spoils over the land.

5. In mechanism of the character set forth, the combination with means for cutting a channel in the earth and elevating the material, of hydraulic distributing mechanism, including a spout into which the material is deposited, and means for forcing water through said spout.

6. In mechanism of'the character set forth, the combination with an earth-cutting and elevating wheel, of a lateral conveyer, distributing mechanism receiving the material from the lateral conveyer. and means open ative to vary the-throw of the material from the machine, whereby the material will be distributed in a layer over the land.

7. In mechanism of thecharacter set forth, the combination with channel-cutting and earth-elevating mechanism, of a movable spout serving to receive the material, and fiuid-pressure means connected with said spout.

8. In mechanism of the character setforth.

the combination of channel-cutting and earth-elevating mechanism. of a spout serving to receive the material, and means for forcing a fluid jet through said spout, whereby the material will be hurled from the spout and distributed in a layer upon the land.

9. In mechanism of the character set forth, the combination with channel-cutting and earth-elevating mechanism. of a spout serving to receive'the material, and means for oscillating said spout in a vertical plane.

10. The combination with mechanism adapted to travel over land and equipped with channel-cutting and earth-elevating means, of means carried therewith for deliv- -ering the spoils laterally at one side of the cutting a channel and elevating the earth, of means for receiving the spoils, and a pump equipped with an intake pige adapted 15 to depend into the ditch formed y the machine and equipped with an outlet pipe 1 adapted to serve in delivering water for use in distributing the spoils.

JOHN W. SYKES.

machine, and means for throwing the spoils in a shower over the land 11. The combination with mechanism adapted to travel 'over land equipped with channel-cutting and earth-elevating means, of means fordelivering the spoils laterally, and jet mechanism carried therewith and adapted to throw the spoils in a shower upon the land.

12. In mechanism of the character set forth, the combination with mechanism for In presence of- A. U. THORIEN, RALPH SCHAEFER. 

